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Smog returns, pollution in city threatens health

Pollution level soared again in Lucknow with change in weathercondition. For the second time in the month, the city was engulfed in dense smogon Tuesday. City was in very poor air quality/ severely polluted category throughout November, which means exposure to such air can lead to respiratory illness and in case of falling into severely polluted category, pollution levels will affect even healthy people.

As per data released by theCentral Pollution Control Board(CPCB), pollution levels in the city were recorded at 418 micrograms/cubic metre of air, showing an increasing trend over last seven days. The PM 2.5 concentration in Lucknow was found to be seven times higher than 60 micrograms/cubic metre, the permissible limit set by the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The PM 2.5 is a particulate matter of diameter less than 2.5 micrometres, about 3% the diameter of a human hair.

Last Tuesday, pollution level recorded was 372 micrograms which increased approximately 50 micrograms over a week.

According to the Air Quality Index (AQI) monitored by CPCB Lucknowwas in top five most polluted cities among the 31 cities in the country with PM2.5—a deadly pollutant, as the prominent pollutant.

On November 6, city was covered with dense smog as concentration of finest hazardous air pollutant in the city nearly doubled (PM2.5 and PM10). The city also figured among the most polluted cities in the country for two consecutive days on November 8 and 9 as per data released by CPCB with high concentration of PM10 and PM 2.5. Particulate matter are so small they go deep into the lungs and can enter the bloodstream causing severe health issues.

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